


A fair price

by Pearlislove



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Episode: s10e08 The Lie of the Land, Gen, Regeneration, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-07
Updated: 2017-06-07
Packaged: 2018-11-10 05:57:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11121279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pearlislove/pseuds/Pearlislove
Summary: In which there was no fake bullets, just a very un-dramatic regeneration and a reasonable price to be paid.





	A fair price

**Author's Note:**

> Because imagaine if Bill shot him for real? It COULD have happened! So I am making it happen!

"I have joined the monks"   
  
He knows what is coming, knows what Bill is about to do, but he still can't really expect it until it happens.   
  
Until the bulls fly out of the gun and tear into his body, ripping him apart mercilessly and setting his nerve ends on fire. There is so much pain, so much damage that there is only one thing that can save him now.   
  
He flashes regeneration energy throughout his body, letting it flow freely through his veins like blood but hotter, effectively healing the damage, and then smiles at Bill like nothing ever happened.   
  
Because technically, it didn't.    
  
He sees the terrified look on Bill's face and laughs, encouraging the others to laugh along with him. Telling her there were only fake bullets, and pretending all is fine - because all is supposed to be fine. Sure, Mike didn’t exchange his bullets for fake once, but she didn’t take Mike's gun, now did she?   
  
_ Supposedly _ , he thinks as he threw up into the toilet bowl for the tenth time that night. He was always bad at keeping his food down for weeks after regenerating, but especially when he was still within the first fifteen hours.    
  
Bill, however, had insisted upon buying them all fish and chips. Even though he'd been achy and tired and nauseated, there had been no way to refuse Bill's offer without making suspicious or downright giving away the truth - which he was not going to, because he knew she couldn’t take it.   
  
The relief in her face when she realised that what she had done had not been for real was  so palpable, so obvious, and he knew that she had never really meant to kill him to begin with, nor would she again if she got a chance at a do-over. And so, just like he told her he could see, he told everyone the bullets were fake. It was easier to pretend, for both their sakes, and all in all the whole experience was something he'd rather forget, anyway.   
  
"You lied. The bullets weren't fake, were they?" He is sitting at the bathroom floor, exhaustedly resting his body again the toilet bowl as he waits for the rest of his stomach content to want to come back up - not that there was any left, but better safe than sorry - and suddenly he hears that eternally annoying voice.   
  
Nardole.  Nardole, always so sweet and innocent and bloody annoying Nardole had figured out his lie - just like he always did - and come to confront him.   
  
He sigh. "She took Mike's weapon. There was real bullets, but it was easy wounds, so I could concentrate hard enough to maintain my image." He shrugs, try to get it away from him and pretend it was nothing at all.    
  
"Must've hurt. You're throwing up." Nardole bite right back, reaching out to flip the handle and flush the toilet as The Doctor remains seated next to it. He's not angry, not really, but neither is he completely happy.    
  
The Doctor doesn't want to move, doesn't want to be reminded of the pulsing pains still radiating from both his hearts and his third and fourth lungs where the bullets hit. He knows it is nothing to be worried about, for he has already fixed the wounds themselves, has already healed the damage, but the sensation is sure to remain at least until the fifteen hours are over and his nerve ends start to adjust.   
  
"My stomach never settles well after a regeneration. Give me time, I will be fine." He smiles, and Nardole sigh, leaving the room before he can say anything else. The Doctor can sense his disappointment that he is still lying to Bill, that he still doesn’t want to tell her everything, but knows he won't do anything about it, and so he lets it be.   
  
The Doctor smiled to himself. Everything came at a cost, it was not something surprising nor new, but the important part was to make sure that it was the right cost.   
  
A regeneration was a fair price, in his book.   
  
  
  



End file.
